### Astronomy Seminar

Wednesday, October 30, 2019
2:30pm – 3:00pm

Storrs Campus
GS-119

H. Perry Hatchfield, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut

Understanding Enigmatic Star Formation Activity in the Milky Way’s Galactic Center

The CMZoom Survey, a Submillimeter Array (SMA) large program, has produced a catalog of dense objects in the 1.3mm dust continuum, complete within all high ($$>10^{23}$$ N(H2)) column density clouds across the inner 300 pc of the Milky Way. This region, known as the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is well studied for its extreme densities, pressures, temperatures and turbulent forces relative to the Galactic disk, as well as a mysterious deficiency of star formation relative to its dense molecular gas content. To understand this deficiency, we are building a suite of hydrodynamic simulations with a consistent dynamical model for the CMZ, implemented with variable physics. By developing these simulations and observations together, we aim to compile a set of tools to better understand the relationship between dense gas and star formation across galactic environments.

Contact:

Prof. C. Battersby

Physics Department (primary), College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UConn Master Calendar